Num. 5- October 2012http://www.uv.es/interuni/newswopp

http://www.uv.es/erasmuswop/newswopp

1. Monthly TopicCAN AN ORGANIZATION WITHOUT A LEADER THRIVE? THE

PRACTICAL EXAMPLE OF GORE & ASSOCIATES

Leadership is a fundamental process in organizational development. As a result, scientific disciplines, like psychology and sociology, have tried to understand these phenomena. In recent years, several authors have emphasized different aspects that help characterize leadership. Many theories, take into account factors such as, personality traits and the behaviour of the leader, as well as the situational context and the relationship between the leader and his/her subordinates.

2. WOP Psychology contributions to HR Management

In this section we carry out a review along different business and organizational management magazines of the most relevant HR topics nowadays. Our proposal is to share with you what companies (maybe like yours) are concerned about. This month…Video job applications

Social Media Risk Management in HRTalent ManagementHR reporting

3. New challenges in WOP-P: What do the professionals think about it?

AN INTERVIEW WITH JOSE LUIS ALCARAZ, HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT MANAGER AT STRATEGY AND

OPERATIONS CONSULTING COMPANY, NEXE-THE WAY OF CHANGE, IN BARCELONA.

As WOP-P Professionals, we know that we have several future challenges to face, one of which is found in the world of consulting. Therefore, we visited strategy and operations consulting company, NEXE, in Barcelona to talk with José Luís Alcaráz, people development manager to obtain his point of view on WOP-P professionals.

4. Master WOP-P News

The new WOP-P graduation class hits the job marketIdea of a WOP-P Alumni Group

Contact us by e-mail newswopp@gmail.com. Do you have some problems reading a PDF? Other formats are available on http://www.uv.es/interuni/newswopp.This newsletter is sent only to employees of the Master WOP-P. It remains forbidden the free distribution of its content. If you do not wish to receive this email please send an email to newswopp@gmail.comWOP-P Newsletter is a magazine developed by the students of the Master WOPP in Valencia. The texts published on this page must not be copied or distributed, they must not be publicity reported or used for commercial purposes and they must not be used to elaborate other works.

Num. 5- October 2012

Montly Topic

CAN AN ORGANIZATION WITHOUT A LEADER THRIVE? THE PRACTICAL EXAMPLE OF GORE & ASSOCIATES

Leadership is a fundamental process in organizational development. As a result, scientific disciplines, like psychology and sociology, have tried to understand these phenomena. In recent years, several authors have emphasized different aspects that help characterize leadership. Many theories, take into account factors such as, personality traits and the behaviour of the leader, as well as the situational context and the relationship between the leader and his/her subordinates.

A literature review by Gosling, Marturano y Dennison (2003), suggests that there has been a change in the focal point of interest from the study of the behaviour and characteristics of the leader to the analysis of the his/her surrounding context. However, the common view of these theories is the analysis of the leader as the person who holds the power. Moreover, in recent studies, leadership has been seen as a shared amongst workers, this process is also known as bossless, which can extend throughout the organization without having to name one single person as the leader (Manz, Manz, Shipper & Adams, 2011; Manz, Shipper & Stewart, 2009). Therefore, all workers have the opportunity to become a project leader if they are able to increase their credibility and demonstrate their knowledge, skills and experience in a particular facet.

In bossless organizations, power is implemented in a non-hierarchical manner, and is supported by some basic elements. For example, direct communication between workers, setting appropriate targets to the employee`s ability, and sensitivity for the welfare of the workers, are some manifestations of these elements.

On one hand, employees are able to flourish without obtaining the acceptance from leaders through the strength of their personal initiative and innovation (Tannenbaum, Salas y Cannon-Bowers, 1996). However, on the other hand, one major downfall is shown by the increased amount of

time it takes for employees to make decisions, because this is done through consensus between colleagues.

The innovative approach is used at W.L. Gore and Associates. This company has almost 35 thousand employees, and was named by Forbes magazine to be one of the 500 biggest companies in the United States in 2007. This company specializes in electronic, industrial and medical products. Leadership at Gore is characterized by continuous creation and a lack of project leaders. Gore’s success is based on its support of shared leadership between employees. This is done through technical and social employee training. The training period promotes rewarding workplace relationships and employee involvement through their “Building on the Best” practice. This exercise highlights the employee’s central role as a stakeholder in the organization. The perception that workers have of this practice favours the development of more individual responsibility and contribution to the company’s operations and success.

The analysis of shared leadership can help promote both scholar and practitioner reflections. Academics could consider this new type of leadership in relation to different types of organizational processes. For example, analyze could be done to determine whether substantial differences exist with other organizations that use different leadership styles and approaches. These differences could heighten the scientific interest and promote studies which support the bossless organizational management.

In turn, the vision of leadership has gradually changed among upper level organizational positions. Although the presence of the leader is common in Western Culture, it should be noted that employees are a potential source of ideas and resources for organizations. Thus, companies should learn how to manage this potential in order to develop and improve organizational wellbeing and offer competitive products in the market. In addition, by means of this vision the worker is viewed as an indispensible element of support, necessary for the fulfillment of the organizational mission.

REFERENCES

Bolden, R., Gosling, J., Marturano., A., & Dennison, P. (2003). A review of leadership theory and competency frameworks. University of Exeter.

Manz, C. C., Manz, K. P., Adams, S. B., & Shipper, F. (2011). Sustainable Performance with Values Based Shared Leadership: A Case Study of a Virtuous Organization. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, 28(3), 284-296.

Manz, C. C., Shipper, F., & Stewart, G. L. (2009). Shared Influence at W.L. Gore & Associates. Organizational Dynamics, 38, 239-244.

Tannenbaum, S. I., Salas, E., & Cannon-Bowers, J. A. (1996). Promoting team effectiveness. In M. A. West (Ed.), Handbook of work group psychology. Chichester, UK: Wiley.

Num. 5- October 2012

WOP Psychology contributions to HR Management

Human Resources Trends & NewsVideo job applications

The recent trend of this creative way of applying for jobs may change the job application process and the role of Human Resources applications. There have been high profile video job applications, such as the one by Matthew Epstein, applying for Google, but it remains to be seen if video applications are effective, if they are applicable in industries other than marketing, digital media, fine arts auditioning, etc., and what the implications for human resources personnel are and the effect on other alternative ways to apply to jobs.

Link: http://googlepleasehire.me/

http://www.matthew-epstein.com/

Social Media

Companies are seeing social media as a way to communicate and inform potential candidates about the company, its values, its goals. This is a tool to attract a certain type of people to apply, as well as promote the company brand. Currently, social media is not yet a widespread job application tool, but is estimated to become an important recruitment tool for companies.

Link: http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/Services/consulting/human-capital/human-capital-trends-2012/cc78248d88185310VgnVCM3000001c56f00aRCRD.htm

http://www.onrec.com/news/news-archive/hr-trends-in-2012

Risk Management in HR

As corporate scandals and political uprisings are increasing, as exemplified by housing crisis in the US in 2008, Fukushima, the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, or the Euro crisis in Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal, corporate risk management is becoming increasingly important. Risk management requires legal, strategic, administrative coordination in which HR plays a huge role. HR professionals must adjust to this new challenge in their work.

Link: http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/Services/consulting/human-capital/human-capital-trends-2012/f501f33854185310VgnVCM3000001c56f00aRCRD.htm

Talent Management

In this crisis, companies have many highly qualified applicants to choose from, yet finding the right talent, as well as cultivate the talents it has, still remains a top concern for many companies. Consulting firms offer guidance on developing talent recognition, talent acquisition, and talent management schemes for companies in various industries.

Link: http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/hr-management-services/talent-management-strategy-services.jhtml

http://www.onrec.com/news/news-archive/hr-trends-in-2012

HR reporting

HR or workplace reporting has become an important aspect in forecasting and planning for the company strategy and human resources. HR reporting consists of acquiring and tracking data about the workplace, such as headcounts, turnover, absence, age, gender, mobility, etc. over time, which can better allow HR to predict patterns and labor costs.

Link: http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/Services/consulting/human-capital/human-capital-trends-2012/3672317cc5185310VgnVCM3000001c56f00aRCRD.htm

Num. 5- October 2012

New challenges in WOP-P: What do the professionals think about it?

An interview with Jose Luis Alcaraz, Human Capital

Development Manager at NEXE

An interview with Jose Luis Alcaraz, Human Capital Development Manager at strategy and operations Consulting Company, NEXE-the

Way of Change, in Barcelona.

Nexe is one of the leading Spanish consulting companies for the design and implementation of organizational change. Since opening its doors in 1993, Nexe has specialized in business consulting and change management, process design and communication training.

Its business portfolio includes clients, such as Volkswagen, Banc Sabadell, Desigual, Seur or Carrefour, just to name a few. Nexe’s primary focus is that of introducing and accelerating necessary organizational changes, in order to improve organizational results. Moreover, Nexe is committed to these changes, guaranteeing that they remain in the company’s organizational culture. This has converted NEXE in one of the most prestigious consulting companies in the market.

José Luís Alcaraz is responsible for Human Capital Development at Nexe. In addition to an extensive career as a consultant and coach, he has spent over 11 years working at Nexe. Therefore, through the WOP-P newsletter we are interested in obtaining his point of view on our role of Work, Organizational and Personnel Psychologists.

To begin, in your opinion what are the differences between a strategy and operations consultant and a HR consultant?

“On one hand, a strategy consultant must have a global understanding of the organizational, an overview of the business. The consultant must be able to enter the most difficult area of the business, as well as being a visionary of the business and be capable of comprehending the inner company dynamics in order to communicate with top management levels of the organizational and do so in a discrete manner.

On the other hand, an HR consultant focuses on people and sometimes this causes them to lose sight of the overall impact on the company. The consultant’s role is more technical.

From your point of view, how do you think that the role of HR consultant has changed in the last 10 years?

José Luís considers that the role of HR consultant has not developed very much. Also, he stresses the importance that this type of consultant understands that in order for all of the methodology and implementation of HR technology to be effective, they must be aligned with the company’s strategy.

“The challenge that the consultant must face is to comprehend the business of the client in order to provide the client with the best service. Furthermore, there should be more of development into the specialization and become organizational development consultants, because organizations are not just a group of people, but also a set of processes and methods, communication systems...that interact together within a complex environment”.

The master we have completed has trained us as work, organizational and personnel psychologists. This has allowed us to analyze and identify not

only employee behaviours of an organization, but also the behaviour the organization itself.

What value could WOP-P psychologists bring to the consulting and business strategy world?

“The value that a WOP Psychologist could have is through making companies comprehend the effort they must exert in learning, in order to face their new challenge. This involves, knowing what we are going to be faced with. In other words how people are feeling, how they relate to one another, how they perform their work, etc. To understand this and the gap between the present moment and the challenge they will encounter, firstly, I will establish an adequate plan to face this challenge. Secondly, provide resources in order for this to occur and have the necessary patience to see how those changes evolve. In many companies there is little patience, because of this the consultant should keep in mind that in the course of the plan of action, small victories should be highlighted so that people can see that changes are happening and that the company is on the right track”.

“Another value that WOP psychologist can provide is through understanding what the change represents and the resistance the people may have towards this. In the change process, people have to change their work methods, their tools, they should acquire or improve certain abilities and abandon certain habits. Comprehending this is necessary and sometimes other professional profiles take this for granted or do not understand the resistance that people may manifest. However, when this is taken into account, it more likely to obtain commitment from people, which is indispensible in order to accomplish this transformation.

Focusing on the economical crisis which we are living in, and in this time of uncertainty which companies are facing, what are the most frequent needs

that you have found companies have?

In general the needs that we have found companies have to improve sales, improve the management quality and the cohesion in management teams.

Also, we find companies that want to standardize their methods and ways of working in commercial areas of their business.

How do you think our role as work, organizational and personnel psychologists can help the consulting field at this present time?

“Certainly we can help. In fact, at Nexe the success of change is based on proximity, in other words, being close to the people who will implement the change. This proximity focuses on accompanying managers and other people in the organization, in order to observe how they do their job and from this point identify what are the needs or difficulties at the time of applying the new model. We also, help them implement these changes so that they can impact key business indicators. This requires professionals that understand human behaviour and who know learning strategies for improvement. For example, at Nexe we use supplementary strategies like mentoring, coaching or shadow coaching. These insure that things end up happening. As stated in the Nexe motto: we make things happen.

At these moments, this type of professional is very important, because there is more suspicion, fear, mistrust...And it is necessary to understand these types of behaviour. In the change process, the aspect that has the most impact on improvement is shown through the identification of the potential improvement in people, generally this is what managers and financial consultants do not detect. Due to this, it is necessary that another type of professional that possesses a different vision. This professional recognizes that what makes a difference for achieving the change is understanding and identifying the potential that people have for improvement and the implication that this has on the outcome”.

Finally, we would like to know, because of your experience and because you had lived another crisis similar to the present one, what advice would you

give to WOP Psychologists who are facing this situation, either as an external consultant or one at an internal level in a company?

José Luís advises that the important thing is: determination and belief. The important thing is to believe in yourself, in your abilities and in what you can bring to the table, which is determination to achieve and do.

“Be aware of that when you go to organizations, you have to bring the business some type of value. Do not forget that their aim is to make money, and we have to think about what we can contribute in order for them to reach that goal.

The determination to improve is part of the orientation of achievement competency. This is a threshold that must be installed during these moments. Furthermore, we must make a difference. What is the essential difference that we can bring to an organization? This is not the moment to say that something cannot be done, it must be done.

Num. 5- October 2012

WOP-P Master News

THE NEW WOP-P GRADUATION CLASS HITS THE JOB MARKET

The fifth cohort of work, organizational and personnel psychologist has taken to the streets in search of business challenges, which will give them the

opportunity to showcase their high potential, reflecting the academic profile of the Master.

In July, a new class of Work, Organizational and Personnel Psychologists (WOP-P) finished their scholastic training and went out into the labor market. It is the fifth generation of WOP-P professionals to face this final challenge: to work as professionals in the industry. Some have chosen to continue their studies by engaging in research, others have chosen to focus on consulting, training or recruitment, while many others have decided to join the HR department of an organization. Regardless of the profession they have opted for, all have solid training, and are able to perform pertinent tasks in an optimal and efficient manner. A Work, Organizational And Personnel Psychologist plays a crucial role within organizations, providing an extra value to them.

Although these professionals have studied in one of the five universities in the cohort, their nationalities are much more varied. These professionals have also had the opportunity to continually work in multicultural and multilingual environments, which has made their experience much more valuable for their future careers.

IDEA OF A WOP-P ALUMNI GROUP “Networking is by far the most important aspect of business school. The classroom is a distant second.” -- Jay Devivo, Entrepreneur

What is about? It is about creating a WOP-P Alumni Group, a network of former WOP-P students. Such a network could help alumni to stay in touch with their fellow students, to establish contact with other former WOP-P students and to be updated about the WOP-P master.

Whom would the network be for? All former WOP-P students of all participating universities.

Why?

1) We WOP-P alumni have a lot of common ground: We all did, suffered and successfully completed a quite unique master, we share similar professional interest and objectives in the area of Human Resources, and we could all need some good contacts who would help us to reach those objectives.

2) As a matter of fact, there are hundreds of former WOP-P students by now, working in all kind of companies and universities all around the globe. This in itself potentially is a very powerful network! In the moment however we are not really using this resource - to start with because most of us even don’t know each other!

3) If we manage to get in touch and create a common network together we will all benefit a lot from it: We will be able to help each other with job search and professional contacts, keep each other updated about new developments in the area of Human Resources, share experiences & best case practices from our work places, and help current students to find internships.

How? What will be the first steps? 1) A common group in LinkedIn 2) An email list, to receive the WOP-P newsletter and information about the alumni group 3) A database with the contact details, whereabouts, jobs and professional interests of all alumni 4) A first WOP-alumni-meeting at the Winter School 2014.

How can you get involved? Join the LinkedIn group: “WOP-P Alumni Group”. We also would need people to help with organizing and running the alumni group. Please get in touch with Daniel, a former WOP-P student, at daniellukasrau@gmail.com. And: Any ideas are welcome!

TEAM WORKS AND COMITEES COMPONENTESMonthly topic Gianluca Odoardi, Valeria NestolaHR news Kika DavisInterview Esther GrageraWOP-P Master news Daniel Rau, María ArdidComitee of contents Fernando Pons, Martina ZandaraComitee of traduction Karen PatersonComitee of coordination María Ardid